A Complete Story

Teresa rummaged through the closet of her grandfather, soon her eyes fixated upon the thing she was looking for. It was a locked box to which only she had the key, as the will requested. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath remembering the will of her now deceased grandfather, “To Teresa I leave the balance in my Cayman Shore’s Bank and also the black box hidden under my books in my closet. The contents of that box are for Teresa alone. Oh and Teresa, remember my last words…” It had been almost 2 months since her grandfather had passed away. Finally she had summoned the nerve to search and see the contents of the box. Frankly, she didn’t know what to expect. Knowing her grandfather she knew she wouldn’t be surprised if a rubber snake bounced out when she opened the box. She slowly wiped the dust of the box and with a deep breath opened the box. Funnily enough no snake bounced out. It was an ordinary looking black box with a lock on it. The insides of the box were colored white; it was empty except for a piece of black paper taped exactly at the center of the box. Teresa couldn’t help but smile when she read what was written on the piece of paper. Those were the exact last words of her grandfather, “Nothing is what it seems.” Truly her grandfather knew how to be eccentric. Smiling, she gently turned the box over and tapped it at the bottom. Surely enough, a false bottom popped open and a black diary fell near her feet. She slowly bent and picked it up.

“Ah, so this is the infamous diary of Dada… I wonder why did he not burn it like the rest of the records of his past…” Teresa wondered to herself as she stared at the diary.

The diary looked way past its prime, but one could clearly discern that this diary in its day must had put quite a dent in its owner’s pocket. In italic letters of what appeared to be pure silver water, was written the name of her grandfather on the cover. The diary had a gold ribbon as a bookmark which was almost halfway through the diary. “Way to go granpa…” Teresa smiled at her thought and sat down on the bed.

She slowly opened the diary. The first page as usual was empty… the second page empty… the third… empty… Teresa hastily turned the pages of the diary but all were blank. Maybe her grandfather had had the last laugh after all. Dejectedly, she threw the diary next to her and fell backwards on the bed. “All this trouble just to show me his fancy diary? Seriously, now I agree with Mom, that old man was tripped.” Teresa thought in anger as she stared at the strange looking lamp placed at the side table of the bed. The lamp was unlike anything she had ever seen. It had a strange looking bulb marked, “UV light.” “Now seriously, why the hell did he need a UV light lamp in his…?” Teresa stopped dead right there. “Nothing is what it seems… Of course how stupid of me…” Teresa said aloud slapping her head. She picked up the diary once more.

Soon, she sat in the dark with the UV light turned on. She placed the diary under the lamp but again all in vain, there was nothing on the first few pages of the diary… She dolefully opened the page that was bookmarked by the golden ribbon. “Ha wouldn’t be surprised if it is empty too…” But this page wasn’t empty. No sir, on that page was the writing of her grandfather. “Really granpa… You had a lot of free times on your hands, didn’t you…?” Teresa thought as she couldn’t help but laugh at the trauma her grandfather had put her through.

She slowly began to read…

“Hey angel… Looks like you remembered the one lesson I always taught you… guess I am proud of you for that. This diary was gifted to me by the CEO of a big corporation just to get on my good side. Back then I never did find a use for it as I was always too busy with other stuff in my life that I never got time to write in some silly diary. But today, I found a use for it… The date today is 28 February. You visited today… but before going you did ask me one question I couldn’t answer. Well I thought about it after you left and my answer to your question is as follows… HAH guess this old fool found some use for this waste in his closet after all.

The thing I am about to tell you, is something that only a few selected souls on this good earth know… I know the following story might seem boring to you but I have way too much time on my hand so before finally meeting my maker I would like to share this with you.

I was a teenager back when this happened. The moment that changed my life forever. The one single moment in my life when for the first time I felt complete. The feeling sweetie, was truly unforgettable. It was a feeling unlike any other I ever experienced in my entire life. It was a dark night, unlike any other I had ever seen and experienced. Life was tough upon me in those days and I was tired of battling it. Some of my friendships had tattered apart and the memory of those lost friends was throbbing in my soul like a splinter as each second passed. Nothing in this world seemed right to me. Each day I got up just by the shear will of somehow making it through the day. And that night, as I sat by my window, crying, I heard a small knock on my door. It was one of my best friends on the other side. Now, back then I was too much of a fool to admit the fact that yes, I do have best friends. It was ……… (The name was written but then crossed over many times.) I always admired her… at least that was what I told myself each day but guess I did more than that… I loved her with all my heart but never did have the courage to say it to her. She knocked again, and I slowly wiping my tears opened the door and invited her in. As we sat opposite to each other, she looked at me and smiled. I always loved to watch her angelic and innocent smile. But today something was different. There was a kind of melancholy in her eyes, like she knew something. I wanted to ask her but stopped myself for some unknown reason. As the night grew, we talked over different matters. We talked of love, of hate, of education and God knows what else. Usually I felt really comfortable around her but today my heart beat strangely. It was like my sixth sense was yelling of the arrival of an unknown storm. Now, remember not all storms in one’s life are disastrous. Guess this was one of those which turned things around for me. She slowly changed the topic back to liking and love. We started talking about that. I couldn’t help but notice the excitement and melancholy in her eyes increase as we discussed this topic further. Something in my heart was constantly advising me to make a run for it. Perhaps she knew. But my feet had turned cold. Her stare was piercing through my body and binding me to the seat I was sitting upon. Her each sentence melted the wall of silence and mystique I had made around me. I knew that she wanted to hear what I had been hiding in my heart and denying all this time. She knew. There was no doubt about that. So, I finally girded up my lions and slowly spoke, “hey… I love you…” At that exact moment there was a spark in her eyes. My heart had stopped beating… everything around me had stopped existing. Her eyes were all that I could see at that time. It was all that I wanted to see. She at first smiled then giggled. My heart beat fastened again. I wanted to run away as fast as I could and not look back. “What will happen now? What should I do…? This is my first time saying I love you to someone… what about my image… should I even care about my image right now?” These thoughts gushed my mind. It was at that time she slowly spoke… “I love you too.” That moment I can never forget… Her sweet voice still soothes my ears to this very day. At that moment everything else in this world for me, had stopped existing. There was nothing but her and her alone. All my thoughts transfixed upon her only. No more did darkness corrupt my soul or stench my thoughts. No longer was I the prisoner of my will to move forward. The fetters of solitude and loneliness I had once imposed on myself were broken. Nothing mattered anymore. My perception of time stopped. It was as if all my life the void I had searched to fill, was finally no more. All my aspirations, all my hopes, all my goals had faded away as I didn’t want them anymore. All my being just wanted to stay in that moment forever. My soul no longer felt restless, unhappy or incomplete. It had found what it had searched for all this time. It had found its Avalon… its nirvana. At that moment in time I felt no regret and no fear what so ever. I felt immortal as if I never knew or will know the meaning of the word, “pain”. There was nothing but complete and absolute happiness that ran through my veins. It was the moment when even if death had clutched me in its evil and dark claws, I would had happily given myself away without a fight for the purpose of my life… the one purpose that overrides all the other ones had been fulfilled. I felt safe… The feeling of happiness and content was too great for me to accurately describe in just mere words. Nothing in this world could define my exact feelings at that point in time… but if I may, being a human try… I would say in one sentence… “At that moment, I felt complete.”

Now, angel I won’t sit here and try to explain how I felt in my broken and repetitive sentences. It’s human nature to not be able to explain its emotions just through words alone. If you love someone and you try to tell them the extent of your love through mere words alone… then remember there is no fool greater than you on this planet. Even with all the words and actions that you can muster, this one lifetime will never be enough to show the extent of your love for a person. That is if you truly love that person. I tried my best to tell you how I felt sweetie, I really don’t know how much I succeeded. Now if you remember you asked me, “What did you learn from your life grandpa?” Well sweetie, I don’t know what I learnt was something I really want you to learn through my words alone. You have to go out there and experience it to really know what this life is all about. But I guess if I must tell you… I would say that to me this life was just finding a moment that completed me. Now, you must reckon that you should stop after that moment. Well you can’t be more wrong. You see my love, life doesn’t end at that moment but it begins the moment you feel complete. No longer do you hide in shells or plan things. No longer do you feel insecure or voided. Now, I know many other philosophers out there may disagree with this old fool that is your grandfather but to me life is nothing but love. If you don’t feel complete at least once in your life… if you don’t love and don’t spread your love then you haven’t lived at all to me.”

Teresa closed the diary and slowly wiped the tears that fondled her cheek. “You really HAD to answer my question didn’t you grandpa… Guess your right I should go out there and experience life to really know what it is all about instead of asking others… but thanks for the advice old man… I will always miss you… Hope you will watch me from the heavens above cause your angel is going to show you that she too can live life…” Teresa said to herself as she stared out the bedroom window at the vacant sky above.

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